Time To Say Goodbye
by Mandee1
Summary: It's the night before Conner leaves for college, and the DT Rangers spend one more night at Cyberspace together.


Disclaimer: I don't own the Rangers or anything else from the show.

A/N: Once again, I've just recently gotten caught up with Dino Thunder. This is only my second attempt at a DT story, so I hope I haven't portrayed any of the characters the wrong way. Criticism and comments are always welcome.

Time To Say Good-bye

Conner sat on the couch at Hayley's Cyberspace, absentmindedly bouncing his miniature red soccer ball against the wall. It was past closing time, but Hayley had agreed to keep the place open because Conner wanted to share one more night with the rest of the Rangers at the popular hangout. So far, he was the only one there, except for Hayley, who was cleaning behind the counter. He knew Dr. Oliver was doing work at the museum, but he had no idea where the others were.

It was Conner's last night in Reefside. First thing the next morning, he was boarding a plane to the University of Massachusetts, where he had been offered a starting spot on their soccer team. He was the first of his friends to head off to college; Kira wasn't leaving for another three days, and Ethan and Trent were in Reefside for one more week. As much as he was excited about college and playing soccer, he didn't want to leave Reefside. His senior year had been...interesting, to say the least, and he wished he could turn back time to relive it again.

"Ah, the pensive Conner," Hayley joked as she placed a smoothie in front of him. "It's not often we see this side of you."

Conner smiled knowingly as he took a sip of his drink. "I'm just nervous about U-Mass."

Hayley nodded understandingly. "Well, I don't think you'll have a hard time fitting in. And I have a feeling you're going to be a great asset to their soccer program."

Conner grinned gratefully. "Thanks."

The sound of the doors opening and closing were heard then. "Hey, guys," Kira's voice rang through the cafe. Trent came through the doors with her, holding her hand.

Conner caught his ball off the wall and clenched it when he saw Trent. He wasn't jealous, and he had gotten over Trent's betrayal, but things were still awkward between them. Conner still wasn't certain of Trent's intentions sometimes. "Hey, you two. Where's Ethan?"

Trent shrugged, but Kira said, "I think he was takingAngela out for dinner. Maybe they're running a little late."

Conner nodded but didn't say anything.

Hayley took orders from Trent and Kira and disappeared behind the counter.

"I can't believe you're leaving tomorrow," Kira murmured softly. "In-" she glanced at the clock on the wall "-ten hours."

Conner bit his lip and nodded sadly. "I know. I don't think I'm ready to leave yet."

Trent gave him an understanding look. "You mean you're nervous about leaving Reefside?"

"No. I mean, I haven't started packing yet."

Kira and Trent laughed at Conner's attempt to lighten the somber mood. "But, honestly, are you scared to leave Reefside?" Kira asked as she became serious again.

Conner tossed his soccer ball from hand to hand. "I guess I am," he admitted. "I mean, this is the only place I've ever lived in. And here, everyone knows who I am. But at U-Mass, I'm just going to be another face in a crowd."

Trent gave Kira a confused look. "I thought you said his popularity wasn't the most important thing on his mind anymore," he remarked, half-joking, half-serious.

Conner shook his head. "You know what I'm talking about. I'm just scared that I won't fit in with anyone."

Hayley returned to the group then and placed drinks in front of the white and yellow Rangers. "Didn't we already discuss this, Conner?"

Conner frowned. "Yeah. But it really doesn't change anything."

Kira sipped her lemonade. "I'm nervous too, you know. About fitting in, I mean. It took me four years of high school to find a real group of friends. I don't want the same thing to happen in college."

"Same here," Trent added honestly. "You guys are the only people I've ever really opened up to before. I don't know how I'll react to being around new people again."

Conner flashed his former teammates a smile that said he was glad they understood.

The doors opened and closed again, and Conner expected Ethan to come through, but it was Dr. Oliver. "Hi, everyone."

The three former Rangers brightened at the sight of their favorite teacher and called out enthusiastic greetings to him. "What's up?" Tommy asked as he settled on the couch next to Conner.

"Just talking," Trent replied. "Working out some apprehensions about college."

Tommy joined in the conversation, helping Hayley with reassuring each of the teenagers that they would have no problems adjusting to the college atmosphere.

Ethan finally showed up about fifteen minutes later, apologizing for being late but claiming that his and Angela's reservations had been pushed back a half hour and she had made him stay for dessert.

Conner and the rest of the group dropped the topic of college once Ethan arrived, wanting to drop the somber mood and have fun during their last night together. They started joking around companionably, engaging in friendly badinage and having fun picking on each other.

After about an hour or so, the group became serious again. "I'm really going to miss times like these," Conner admitted. "I mean, staying here past closing, teasing each other. It's not going to be the same anymore."

Kira nodded as she looked around the cafe. "We've had some pretty good times here," she agreed sadly. Trent, who had been sitting with his arm around her shoulders, pulled her closer and kissed her forehead.

Conner smiled woefully. "Well, I've had some pretty good friends to hang out with here."

Everyone looked at Conner in shock. "Conner!" Ethan added in exclamation. "I knew you grew up, but when did you get so profound?"

"That was profound?" Hayley asked incredulously.

"For Conner."

Conner pelted Ethan with the soccer ball. "Not funny, dude."

"And I was just beginning to think that the whole going-off-to-college situation had made you more sensitive. Or at least, more than being a Ranger did."

Conner shook his head and defended himself, "I'm being serious. Think about it. We're all leaving Reefside within a week. We're going off to different places, doing different things. Nothing's going to be the same anymore, no matter how hard anyone tries to deny it."

Ethan, Kira, and Trent looked thoughtful, and Conner took pride in the fact that he knew his friends knew he was right.

"Things are going to change," Tommy agreed with Conner. "But I know from experience: There's one thing that'll never change, and it'll be the thing that will keep you guys bonded together."

"That we were all Rangers together," Trent supplied.

Tommy nodded.

Ethan smiled fondly at Kira and Conner. "Remember when we first found the Dino Gems?"

Conner's eyes lit up. "Yeah. We all hated each other then."

"I don't think we hated each other," Kira protested. "We just weren't very tolerant. I mean, between your chauvinism, and Ethan's know-it-all attitude, I really thought I was going to strangle both of you."

"I was not chauvinist!" Conner argued.

"I'm not a know-it-all!" Ethan exclaimed at the same time.

Kira raised an eyebrow at them.

"Okay, maybe a little," Conner conceded. Not liking the negative attention he was receiving, he reminisced, "How about our first fight using the Thundersaurus Megazord? That was awesome."

"Or the day Dr. O became a Ranger?" Kira stated.

"And when we finally broke Trent's evil side?" Ethan remembered.

Trent frowned, but he was blushing. "I don't like talking about that, thanks."

Ethan apologized good-naturedly, and a silence hung over the group. A few moments later, Ethan grinned mischievously. "I remember when Conner told us he couldn't swim."

"At least I didn't get sucked into a video game," Conner retorted.

"Yeah, but neither of you were brainwashed by a possessed dinosaur skeleton," Kira added with a smile.

Trent, already having forgotten the painful allusion to his evil side, spoke up, "And you guys didn't befriend a cartoonist who drew us into a comic book."

"Well, hey. Look what happened to all of us when that rock switched our personalities," Kira laughed. "Were we crazy or what?"

Laughing, Conner shook his head. "Man, being a Ranger sure makes a teenager's life really, really weird."

"But would you have wanted your senior year to go any other way?" Hayley asked matter-of-factly.

Conner thought about that for a moment. "I guess not," he admitted. He remembered how he had been thinking earlier that he wished he could turn back time and relive it again.

As if reading his mind, Kira asked, "Do you guys ever wish you could do it all over again?"

Conner, Ethan and Trent were thoughtful for a while. "I do," Conner finally admitted out loud. "I was just thinking before that I want to go back in time and go through senior year again."

"I think the same thing, too, sometimes," Trent said. "There are some things I'd like to leave out. But the whole experience in general...I'd do it all over again in an instant."

That opened up a new conversation among the group. Theyremembered some of their bad fights, laughed about the stupid things, argued about which battle was the toughest and which one was the easiest. Before anyone knew it, it was tomorrow.

"All right, guys. I'd hate to bring this night to an end, but it's already past midnight. You should all go home now," Hayley ordered gently. But even she didn't want the night to end.

The former Rangers reluctantly finished their drinks and stood up, preparing to say good-bye to Conner.

"Promise you'll send us videos of your games?" Kira asked sadly as she gave her leader a hug.

"Definitely," Conner promised. "And copies of newspapers, too. And when you finally produce your CD, I better be the first to get a copy." Hayley, Tommy, Trent, and Ethan looked at him. "Well, one of the first."

Kira grinned. "No problem."

Ethan gave Conner a high five. "You better find a connection to the Internet as soon as possible out in Massachusetts. You may be one of my best friends, but even you're not worth those ugly long-distance phone charges."

Conner laughed. "You mean a lot to me, too."

Conner turned to Trent and clapped a hand on his shoulder. "It's been rough," he admitted. "But I'm glad everything worked out between us."

Trent grinned. "Me, too," he replied honestly. "You know, I'll be in New York in a week. It's only a train ride away from Massachusetts. If you ever need anything, you can count on me."

Conner smiled softly, thinking back to the last time Trent had spoken those words. For one of the first times in a long time, he took comfort in what Trent said. "I'll remember that."

Hayley said good-bye next. "I promise I'll keep this place in good shape for when you come back. I'll make sure you all have a great place to come back to," Hayley told the whole group.

Conner gave the genius a brief hug while the others smiled at each other sadly over Hayley's remark. "Thank you for everything you've done for us," Conner said to her. "We couldn't have done it without you."

Hayley returned the soccer star's embrace. "You were a great leader. The team was lucky to have you."

Tommy agreed as he placed a hand on Conner's shoulder, turning Conner to him, and held out his hand. "You've come a long way, Conner," Dr. Oliver complimented as Conner shook his hand. "I'm proud of you. If you take everything you learned in Reefside to Massachusetts, you'll have no problems."

"Thanks, Dr. O," Conner replied. It wasn't the first time he'd been told that he had changed, but he never tired of hearing people point out how different he'd become. It felt good to have people respect him as a trustworthy, reliable person now, not just as a good-lookingathlete.

The four teens, Dr. Oliver, and Hayley stood around the cafe in a small huddle. "I guess it's finally time to leave Reefside behind," Conner said sadly.

Kira placed a hand on the small of Conner's back and rubbed it in a friendly, comforting manner. "You're right. We really have to go."

The group of six began heading towards the exit slowly, each of them wearing sad faces and walking dejectedly.

As everyone else walked through the doors into the cool summer night, Conner stopped in the middle of the cafe and turned around, trying to procrastinate saying good-bye to his favorite place in Reefside for as long as possible.

"Hey." A few seconds later, Kira's voice echoed through the empty cafe as she popped her head back in the door. "You coming?"

"Yeah, I'll be there in a sec," Conner told her.

"Okay." Kira flashed Conner a smile and disappeared outside again.

Conner took one last good look at the cafe. He didn't know when he'd come back again. Probably not until Christmas vacation, almost four months away. The thought made Conner already start to feel homesick.

Taking a deep breath, Conner headed towards the exit of Cyberspace. He paused when he reached the doors, taking one more look. As he did so, he wistfully rubbed the morpher on his wrist; he'd never taken it off although he technically wasn't a Power Ranger anymore. He smiled to himself woefully. "It's finally time to say good-bye," he spoke in a whisper to the empty restaurant.

With that, Conner exited the building, the feeling of comfort and belonging leaving him, and the inevitable feeling of unfamiliarity and anxiety about Massachusetts already starting to sink in.


End file.
